Team Beaver Fever Budget Bass Jon Boat Build

Wow, looks great guys! Nice work as always!

I love that dog. I had a black pug growing up. Oh ya, the boat kicks ass.

The dog is a cool looking little dude (or dudette)!

Nice choice of motor there Sam. I think I may get the same one.

Looks great ! Did you get the tracker 1232 or 1236?

Excellent job! Time to take it down the cape and check her out.
Did you have to shorten the shaft on the trolling motor?

very good observation and yes. we will probably shorten it to account for how the boat will sit in the water. unfortunately, it's the shortest shaft in that series.

tracker 1232 to save weight. would've liked the extra width but i wanted the lightest boat possible.

shawn, damon called me last weekend and we spoke about this for awhile. for all of the reasons described earlier in the thread, its by far the best motor for this type of boat and setup. it saves a ton of space b/c of the mount design, you can mount it properly like in the pictures, you don't have to deal with the rigid cables and the limitations on where you put the pedal, it won't be as heavy, and you get the motors benefits like digital maximizer. yes, i said shaft.

joe, we thought about taking it out for transport and honestly, i'd get tired of taking it off and putting it back on. yes, it will save a lot of weight but I'm lazy. thats where the trailer hitch and bed extender will come into play and spread the weight out on my roof and reduce the wind resistance since it will sit further back on my car. i'll use the orange safety flag and will resist the urge to put the pedal to the metal on the highway.

just got a bunch of the stuff in the mail - hitch, bed extender, quick release bracket, and aerator spray head. just need the motor which should be here tomorrow or thursday.

and seriously, unbelievable. i didn't think damon would be doing all this work alone. if i had know, i would've been calling in sick all week haha.

I like a long shaft. It allows you to probe the depths and hit bottom on occasion.

I like a long shaft. It allows you to probe the depths and hit bottom on occasion.

no wonder you have 10 kids

haha yes, yes it does. i may have a small hiccup...not sure where i'm going to connect straps from the T bar to the bumper of my car. i need to go out and take a look. worst case is i return the extender. very worst case is i take the deck out all the time.

shawn, do you have any pictures showing how you strap the T bar down on your car? like this i'm guessing: http://www.etrailer.com/merchant2/graphics/00000001/pics/D/T/DTA944_v2_1000.jpg

I like a long shaft. It allows you to probe the depths and hit bottom on occasion.

no wonder you have 10 kids

What does my trolling motor have to do with having kids?

haha yes, yes it does. i may have a small hiccup...not sure where i'm going to connect straps from the T bar to the bumper of my car. i need to go out and take a look. worst case is i return the extender. very worst case is i take the deck out all the time.

shawn, do you have any pictures showing how you strap the T bar down on your car? like this i'm guessing: http://www.etrailer.com/merchant2/graphics/00000001/pics/D/T/DTA944_v2_1000.jpg

don't think I have any pics but I don't bother strapping down the bar. I ran a strap from one side of the T through the handle of the boat-acrross the boat-out the other handle and connected to the other side of the T bar. That holds it perfectly. If you need tie downs, try these...
http://www.rei.com/product/818227/seattle-sports-quick-loops-pair

Like this

nice, much appreciated. i'm just worried since the instructions explicitly say to secure the bar with straps or rope diagonally to the car bumper when using it at roof level.

With a long enough ratcheting tie down strap you should be able to go from one side of the trailer hitch itself around the boat and the bar and back to the other side of the hitch. Throw a couple rags under where it crosses over the bumper, ratchet it down, and your in business. Or run their tie down straps in the same manner, and secure the boat as described above for double the insurance.

Cool that's what I was thinking since I have some 16' heavy duty straps. I have a ton of different ones in my car for this situation. I guess we will find out haha.